The nearly 60 million people, who have visited Sweden through Stieg Larsson's trilogy, will now be able to see what they have so far only imagined.
Tattoos Hornets Fire: The Millennium Sweden is the photo book that captures the Sweden presented to so many readers, the one they have wished to know better—although many may honestly not recognize the Sweden they know or have known. Shot by Christopher Makos and Paul Solberg during a few visits to Stockholm, the art shows a blunt rawness you would rarely associate with the capital, until now.
Instead of just showing a tattooed girl in a subway heading toward a suburb, the book has a playful depth of natural light, shadows, reflections, contrast and color, and puts its finger on something you would miss when Stockholm makes its first impression on you.
Paul Solberg, an American of Swedish decent, notes, “There are many faces of Sweden, depending on seasons. This book focuses mainly on a darker, moodier Sweden, particularly the two hours when the sun sets and the blue light floats through the streets as the long evening begins.”
To make it easy for the eager reader and traveler wanting to turn this experience into a reality, the book includes a site map marked with location for each photo. Not surprisingly, this visual tour of Stockholm is developed with support from VisitSweden, the tourism promotion office and SAS Scandinavian Airlines. Not only did Stieg Larsson sell books, but he also sold his view of Sweden.
Inside the old hardware store at Skansen Open Air Museum, the entire interior of which and all items were brought to Skansen from a store that closed in 1994. The man behind the counter is a former hardware store owner. ENLARGE IMAGE »
The fact that somebody has put a tiny hornet in a joint between two granite stones somewhere up on Södermalm Island could be an expression of the longing for summer, and may have even inspired Stieg Larsson to use hornets as a metaphor for Swedish climate and culture ENLARGE IMAGE »
Motorcycles feature large in the Larsson novels and in the lives of most Stockholmers, as well.
While motorcycles are not widely used in Stockholm, there is a museum located in nearby Sollentuna, Sweden showcasing the history of the design and creation of motorcycles from the 19th century until today. (Photo taken in Östermalm) ENLARGE IMAGE »
The Vasastan area in the northern part of downtown Stockholm still has a high density of early twentieth-century residential buildings, where more than sixty percent of the apartments are studios and one-bedroom layouts. ENLARGE IMAGE »
Open fires have been banned in most of Sweden as well as parts of Norway, Denmark and Germany since early June. ENLARGE IMAGE »
..tattoos. There are over 750 tattoo parlors in Stockholm. Many tattoos serve as rites of passage in the city. ENLARGE IMAGE »
The coffee table book is made by two internationally renowned photographers, Paul Solberg and Christopher Makos, also called the Hilton Brothers. ENLARGE IMAGE »
Dried flowers from The Stockholm City Museum, similar to the species made famous in Larsson's first Novel. ENLARGE IMAGE »
Tattoos Hornets Fire: The Millennium Sweden reveals some of the truth behind Larsson's constructed world. ENLARGE IMAGE »